1 dead in house fire in northwest Houston

Authorities clean up after a house fire in northwest Houston left one person dead late Monday night. (Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle)

Authorities clean up after a house fire in northwest Houston left one person dead late Monday night. (Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle)

1 dead in house fire in northwest Houston

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A man was found dead inside a home after a fire gutted portions of the house in northwest Houston late Monday night.

The 1-alarm blaze broke out about 11:30 p.m. at the house at 5222 Lamonte near Costa Rica, according to the Houston Fire Department. The fire was extinguished about 40 minutes later.

Houston police said firefighters battling the flames discovered the man’s body in the master bedroom. The victim’s name has not been released.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences is scheduled to perform an autopsy to determine how the man died.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw heavy flames rising from the home. About 70 firefighters battled the blaze.

Investigators are trying to determine what sparked the blaze.

It is the second time in as many weeks that people have died in house fires in the Houston area. On Wednesday, a couple and their child died in a house fire in northeast Harris County. The blaze broke out about midnight at the house in the 4700 block of Cicada near Boreas, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.